Work-Study, Internships, Research, etc.

Freire Charter School offers opportunities for volunteers, college and graduate students, people interested in internships or observing, and those who are conducting research. We are appreciative of those who work and volunteer in service to our students, and we seek to provide an exceptional experience for everyone.

Everyone must go through this process without exception:

Tour and interview (sometimes in small-group format), email or phone # of 3 references (can be former work supervisors, professors, etc.)

Complete gov’t background checks, required by law, which cost a total of $60

For more information or to apply for a family therapy/counseling internship, please send resumes and cover letters to Alphonse Pignataro at alphonse@freirecharterschool.org.

For all other workstudy or internship inquiries, please send resumes and cover letters to Katie Flowers at katie.flowers@freirecharterschool.org.

Reasons to apply for work-study at Freire:

We’re not looking for cheap labor. We’re looking to create an amazing experience for you so that you learn new skills, meet great people, have fun, and significantly impact our students and school.

College and graduate student “fellows” are very talented and can serve our students and school in a variety of ways. Fellows are an integral part of our community, given real responsibilities to have an impact on our students.

98% of our graduates go on to college, yet just 8% of students’ parents attended college. To provide our students more exposure, we need college and graduate students immersed in our community in order to be truly “college preparatory.”

We are a special school with a very talented and committed staff and student body, who together continually prove their capacity for great achievement. We want to influence you, whether you have a future career in education, or simply go on to be an advocate for educational equity.

If you want it – and if you earn it – you’ll get a phenomenal recommendation and/or reference for grad school, a job, Teach For America, etc.

Expectations of fellows:

Commitment to our students’ success, whether that be through direct work with students or indirectly through supporting teachers and administrators, capacity building, etc.

Desire to have an impact

Willingness to balance high-level conceptual tasks, sometimes working alone and other times with others, and at times doing boring things that just need to get done

Awareness and value of one’s status as a positive role model for our students

Connections…to your favorite professors, to your colleagues and friends who would also be great fellows, to your friend’s band that wants to perform for students at lunch, etc.

Non-negotiable requirements, from us and/or your school and/or the government:

You must qualify for “off-campus” work-study from your college or university (unless you want to volunteer, which is 100% encouraged as long as you make a sustained commitment!)

You must be an American citizen (in order to have your work-study used off-campus. So far, this has only been an issue with University of Pennsylvania. We have had non-US citizens from Temple. (Sorry, we do very much value non-US citizens in our school!)

Strong commitment to issues of educational equity and school reform

Tour and interview (sometimes in small-group format), email or phone # of 3 references (can be former work supervisors, professors, etc.)

Complete gov’t background checks, required by law, which cost a total of $60

Accept that there are wage disparities out of our control, based on each university

Complete our internal paperwork on confidentiality, policies, etc.

Be flexible and willing to occasionally deviate from your expected role in order to help on other projects when we’re in a crunch.